You claim she assaulted you.
She hit me first, Your Honor.
She kicked me and I almost got hit by a car, Your Honor.
She approached me to my vehicle, she was calling me names,
and she wanted to fight me.
And then you got out of the car?
I didn't do anything wrong.
When I walked up to her, I defended myself.
-[laughing] -[narrator] This is Judy Justice.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Caryn Casas is suing car buyer, Destiny Jones,
for impound fees, parking tickets, and an assault.
[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.
[Judy] Have a seat, please.
Judge, case 4018, Casas versus Jones.
-Thank you. -You're welcome.
Ms. Casas, you sold the defendant an old car.
Yes.
And you claim that as a result
of her not following through with your agreement,
which was to register the car immediately,
she accumulated tickets, the car became impounded,
you had to go and get the car out of impound.
You had to do that twice.
Ultimately you repossessed it, she took it back.
All of this resulted in expenses for you that far exceed the value of the car.
Yes.
The defendant Ms. Jones, says she purchased a car from you.
She paid you $1,600 for the car?
-It was a 2007... -Seven. Um, Hyundai Tucson.
Now, when you sold her the car-- On what date?
Um, I sold her the car on February 1st, 2024.
-What date? -The 25th of February.
No, that's not true. I have evidence.
I have it right her-- Excuse me, Your Honor, I have--
Shh! Show me what you have to demonstrate
that the car was sold on February 1st.
And you can show me what you have
that establishes the car was sold on February 25th.
[Judy] What's this $200 finder's fee?
My cousin charged us both $100 each
for connecting us together and her selling the car to me.
So I paid her that the date of purchasing the vehicle.
Well, I don't know whether you did or whether you didn't.
And then the transaction fee. Sorry. On the other page.
Well, I have your release of liability, but that's in May.
But it says on the date over there, um, the date that I sold her the car.
-Well, you put the date? -Yes.
-You put the date in. -Yeah.
Why would I do that if I was lying, you know?
-I don't know because you didn't remember. -I remember--
But you put the date in. This doesn't have anything that suggests
that it was the beginning of February as opposed to February 25th.
You got a release of liability of the car on May 1st.
-Yes, well, I-- May I, Your Honor? -No, not yet.
Had the car been registered at the time that you sold it?
Yes, it was registered to me, Your Honor.
I have the registration if you'd like to see it.
I just want to know, when you sell a car--
-You live in California. -Yes.
When you sell a car in California, you have to have, along with the title,
you have to give a smog test that's valid within the last 90 days.
Did you have that?
-Yes, I do. Yes. -I'd like to see it.
This car was smogged 11/24/2023.
Why couldn't you register the car?
When I went to register the car, the car needed to be smogged.
I have my title saying that it's a temporary registration.
She didn't provide me the smog certificate when I purchased the car off of her.
She never asked me for it,
I would've gave it to her if she would've asked me.
Well, that's a problem.
I understand, Your Honor.
Because you have to provide this...
Um, this is my first time with selling a car, I haven't experienced, so--
But I held on to it, and I do know that now, Your Honor,
-so I do understand I was wrong. -[Judy] Okay...
So, she couldn't register the car without a smog test
unless you had it re-tested.
But when you purchased the car from her sometime in mid-February,
when you purchased the car from her, she did in fact give you the title.
She gave me the title two days after
because we were supposed to meet at the DMV.
-Which she never did because... -[Judy] Shh.
-Just a second, she gave you the title? -[Destiny] Yes.
-On what date? -She gave me the title on the 27th.
Okay, so now you have the title.
-Mm-hm. -And now it's up to you
to get the car smogged.
Do you work?
-At the moment? No. -No, not at the moment...
-No. -...then.
Then, no.
What did you need a car for?
To see my daughter. She lives in Whittier and I live in South Central.
Between February 27th and May 1st, did you see your daughter?
-Mm-hm. -"Uh-huh" is not an answer.
Yes, I did.
-And you drove there. -Yes, I did.
And you drove there in her car?
-That would be a yes. -No, I drove there in my car.
Well, you drove there in a car that you had purchased from her,
but didn't complete your contract with her.
You drove a car where she had given you the title to the car
so that you had the ability to register it.
You just had to do a little more work.
So it's not that you didn't have use of a car.
You had use of a car, but she had all the liability
because it was still in her name.
You're smart enough to understand that, right?
You're smart enough to understand that if the car is still in her name,
then she will be responsible for parking tickets or moving tickets
that you get for the car.
Because her name is still the registered owner of that car.
-Right? -[Destiny] Yes.
Great.
I approached her, and she was already coming out all crazy at me,
and she pushed me in the street and I almost got hit by a car, Your Honor.
I didn't do anything wrong. If she would have provided me the smog certificate,
then none of this would even be happening.
[laughing]
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Caryn Casas claims car buyer, Destiny Jones,
purchased her car and never transferred the title,
causing Caryn to receive parking tickets in her name.
Now I'd like you to show me tickets that accumulated on the car
between, let's say, the third week in February
and May 1st when you finally removed yourself from libel for the car.
Your Honor?
I don't need to speak to you. Yet.
Okay, so here's one parking ticket that's on the 26th of February.
So 26th, according to you, you had the car.
Mm-hm.
So this is your ticket.
-Okay, that's fine, yes. -Did you pay it?
You got it-- Listen to me...
[Destiny] I didn't receive--
No, no, no, no, no, that's baloney.
You got it because it wasn't a moving ticket.
You parked on the street where it was no parking, street cleaning.
So when you got back to the car, there was a ticket which you took and discarded.
Okay, and here you were double-parking in March.
Uh, who is at... street?
[Destiny] I live on...
Well then, what were you double-parking for?
I live in South Central and the apartment complex I moved into
doesn't have a parking lot for their tenants,
and the parking is really, really bad there.
I have pictures of the streets, in the middle of the day--
Who cares? What does that have to do with her?
You get a parking ticket because you double-parked your car,
then you pay it.
You Honor, if she would have provided me the smog certificate
when she sold me the vehicle, then nothing would have been in her name.
Listen to me shoulda, woulda, coulda, what does that have to do with you
double-parking the car? You were driving it. Duh!
You were driving the car, you were violating the rules
by not parking it in the right place.
What does that have to do with smog?
Explain it to me.
Maybe I'm stupid.
What does the fact that you didn't get a smog receipt
have to do with you violating the law,
getting tickets and not paying them in a car that you were using?
Can you explain that to me? No. You can't. Okay, good.
Not as dumb as I thought.
[Judy sighs]
Okay, so you were getting these-- There are two parking tickets, is that right?
-Yes. -Okay.
And you sort of got fed up with the two parking tickets
so you tried to contact her. That didn't work out.
So I reported the car stolen because I--
I understand. That's where I'm getting to.
-Okay. -But the car was not stolen.
So you know that that's not the right thing to do.
It wasn't stolen. She had paid you for the car.
-Your Honor-- -You had turned over the title to the car.
The car wasn't stolen, madam.
-[Caryn] May I, Your Honor? -Sure.
Okay, so upon selling her the car, when she gave me the money,
I told her-- We had a verbal agreement and I said,
"If you don't take me to the DMV tomorrow
because I do not want to be liable for anything,
I can give you the money back, this goes-- All bets are out the door, okay?"
We had a verbal agreement, she knew that, and she never came.
What does that have to do with you reporting to the police?
She wasn't answering her phone,
I had started getting tickets in the mail already,
and so when I was trying to contact her, she wasn't answering my phone calls.
So I figured if I got her attention by reporting the car stolen
that she would then see, "Maybe I should transfer
-the title to her name?" -I just want to tell you something.
It's expedient, but when you falsely report an incident,
which is what you did, you falsely reported a crime.
-Yes, Your Honor. -Not a breach of some civil contract.
-[Caryn] That's how-- -But you falsely reported a crime.
That is a crime.
-I understand, Your Honor. -Okay.
I just want you to understand that.
That people can't do that and sort of resort to...
Because it's expedient.
Well, report it stolen and that way the police will get involved
and that way it'll get her attention.
That's not what the police are there for,
the police are there to take care of crimes, this is not one.
-Just letting you know. -Okay.
Okay. Now, then the car was impounded.
Yes, Your Honor.
Why was the car impounded?
Because she reported it stolen.
And is that when you had to retrieve the car?
-Yes, so I-- -Just a second.
-Then you had to retrieve the car. -Yes, ma'am.
Because you reported it stolen and they picked it up.
And how much was that?
-It was $900 the first time. -Okay.
So that you don't get back
because you don't get rewarded for committing a crime.
I understand, Your Honor.
-Okay? -Okay.
Now, the car was impounded a second time
because you took the car back.
Did you get the car back?
-Yeah, the day-- -Shh!
-Did you get the car back? -Yes.
On what date?
On April 2nd.
How did you get the car back?
Caryn told me it was at her father's house.
That's not true.
You got the car back on April 2nd.
-Mm-hm. -"Uh-huh" is not an answer.
"Yes" is an answer.
-Was the car impounded again? -Yes.
On what date?
May 20th.
For what?
For allegedly blocking a driveway.
Blocking a driveway where?
On the block-- The street I live on.
Okay. Where's the car now?
I have it. It's outside.
Is it now registered in your name?
-The car-- I registered the car-- -Shh!
-That's either yes or no. -Yes.
-On what date? -April 2nd.
I have the evidence.
May I see the registration for the car, please?
Okay, so as of the beginning of April, the car is registered in her name.
Now, the car was towed a second time on what date?
They retrieved it on 5/20/2024,
and it was also in the impound for 19 days.
Well, 5/20, what did you take it out of impound for?
Um, 19 days later, well, because they sent me a letter because I was still
the registered owner at that time.
No, not on May 20th.
But that's what the tow yard people--
Here, this is from the tow yard.
Well, they're mistaken.
According to this, she registered the car in April.
Well, Your Honor, the tow yard had informed me,
they sent me a letter saying I was still the legal registered owner
and that she was just an interested party.
-What I'm telling you is-- -I believe you.
-I just-- -Your problem is,
if the tow company was wrong,
which clearly based upon this which was stamped April 2nd,
and if they towed the car because she was double-parked on May 20th,
then the tow company got it wrong.
-Yeah, well... -Then you can't sue her,
you sue the tow company.
But she still wasn't able to get it out, Your Honor.
-It was in there for 19 days. -Who cares? Who cares?
It had nothing to do with you anymore.
At that time, I wasn't aware of that. I didn't know that.
-You were aware of it because you-- Shh. -I-- I--
You were aware of it because in the beginning of May,
you signed a release of liability at Motor Vehicles.
-Yes, I did. -So you were aware of the fact
that a month before--
Because it was released to you in June.
You were aware of the fact that you had signed this release of liability.
Because you were concerned about her.
Okay. I would take this up with the tow company. If I were you,
-I'd be more than delighted to hear it... -Okay.
...if everything is as you indicate.
That the tow company got it wrong.
All they had to do was upgrade their information about this car
and they would have found out that the defendant was the registered owner.
And if she wanted to get it out, she'd have to stop
blocking other people's driveways.
Okay...
I didn't exchange any names with her,
-she exchanged names with me. -So what did you do?
-I approached her... -You approached her?
...and then she hit me with the dog leash.
-She did? Well, what were you-- -No, I did not.
Just a second. What were you going to do when you approached her?
Sh! Stop! Stop and think!
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Caryn Casas is accusing car buyer, Destiny Jones,
of purchasing her car and never transferring the title.
Caryn also claims Destiny assaulted her,
but Destiny says it was self-defense.
So who paid these parking tickets?
My friend Bob, he lent me the money.
And he was holding onto the car for me until I was able to pay him back,
-which I did pay him back. -I just want you to show me receipts
that the parking tickets were paid.
Um, my friend Bob's not around right now.
-He's... -Well, then I actually can't help you.
They wouldn't have allowed her to register the car
if there were outstanding parking tickets on it.
So I don't know who paid for the parking tickets,
but you have no proof that you paid for the parking tickets.
Okay, now after the car was impounded for the second time,
you claim she assaulted you.
-Yes. -Tell me when and where that happened.
Okay, it was two days after the car had gotten out,
-and, um, she-- -Gotten out of when?
The tow yard. The second time.
-The second time, so that was in June? -Yes.
-June, yes, June 7th. -[Judy] June. Now,
the car was in impound for 19 days. Why?
I was waiting for my, um, program to assist me
with pulling it out of the impound.
I live in a, uh-- With the homeless program.
They help me pay my rent and stuff, so they were gonna assist me
with getting the car out of the impound.
-But you didn't. -No, I didn't, she--
Her and, um, her friend pulled it out of the impound
and I also have a police report.
I filed a police report when I needed to retrieve the vehicle back from him.
Okay, so you found out where the car was and you got it back from her friend.
-Mm-Hm. Yes. -"Uh-huh" is not an answer.
-Sorry. Yes. -"Yes" is an answer.
Okay, and after that, you had a confrontation with her.
Tell me about that.
I was in my vehicle that I bought from her.
She approached me to my vehicle walking towards me,
-and she was calling me names... -That's not true.
...and she wanted to fight me.
So I walked up to her.
When I walked up to her, she hit me with her dog leash.
And then I defended myself.
[Judy] Well, let me ask you this question, we're gonna go back slowly.
According to you, you were sitting in your car. In the driver's seat?
I was in the passenger seat.
In the passenger seat, who was driving?
-My friend. -[Caryn] Who doesn't have a license.
[Judy] Friend-- Shh!
-So, your friend's driving? -Yes.
-And you were in the passenger seat. -Mm-hm.
And she approached you while you were sitting in the passenger seat.
-I got out of the vehicle and I-- -[Judy] Oh!
-A different story. -I believe--
So she's calling-- Just a second. So she's calling you names.
And instead of staying in the car, you got out of the car.
And then what happened when you got out of the car?
-When I walked up to her, she-- -So you walked up to her.
She was already walking to me.
Show me somewhere in the room where she was when you got out of the car.
For instance, I was in the vehicle over here,
and she was over here at this black wall.
-And she was walking to me. -Just a second.
So from there, she's walking and shouting at you?
So she didn't come up to the car window and start screaming at you?
-No. -She was far away
when she allegedly started to call you names.
-Yes. -And then you got out of the car.
-Yes. -And you were exchanging
bad names back and forth?
I didn't exchange any names with her,
-she exchanged names with me. -So what--
-So what did you do?
-I approached-- -Approached her, and?
And then she hit me with the dog leash.
-She did? -Yes.
-No, Your Honor. -What were you-- Just a second.
What were you going to do when you approached her?
Shh! Stop! Stop and think.
You approached her, and she was clearly close enough
so that, according to you, she could hit you with the dog's leash
and according to you, you weren't saying anything to her.
What did you approach her for?
Well, I wanted to know why she was even doing all of this stuff.
Why she even did all of this to begin with.
I didn't do anything wrong, she failed to provide me the smog certificate
when I purchased the vehicle.
If she would have provided me the smog certificate,
then none of this would even be happening.
[laughing]
That's what I have to deal with, Your Honor.
All right. Tell me your version of what happened
after the car was released the second time.
So by the shelter that I live at in Whittier,
it was off of Greenleaf at a 7-Eleven right there on the corner.
There was video surveillance of it, and, um,
so I-- Okay, so I approached her
and she was already coming out all crazy at me.
And she hit me first, Your Honor, and I told her,
"Let me put my dog down, let me tie my dog up"
'cause I was ready to fight back and defend myself, okay,
and that's the truth, okay?
She wouldn't let me tie my dog up so she continued to assault me
and start hitting me,
so I was just trying to, you know, protect myself,
and I did hit her with the dog leash because that's all I had.
My dog ended up getting stepped on.
And so, when I went to go grab my dog
'cause my attention then went to my dog,
so picked him up and she pushed me in the street,
like, she kicked me and I almost got hit by a car, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Okay. -There is video surveillance of it
-and the 7-Eleven-- -[Judy] I would like to see it.
The 7-Eleven, they told me I had to get a subpoena--
Don't tell me what they told you. If I don't have it, it doesn't exist.
Do you have a police report?
Um, I couldn't retrieve it in time, Your Honor.
-You don't have a police report? -I don't.
Do you have any medical proof that you saw any facility,
Urgent Care, emergency room?
-The answer is yes or no. -No, Your Honor.
Do you have photographs of your injuries?
-No, Your Honor. -All righty.
So we have A, no proof that you paid the parking tickets.
We have B, a first impound of the car
that happened as a result of you committing a crime
and reporting a stolen vehicle.
-Right? -Yes, Your Honor.
We have a second impound of the car
because the towing company failed to adequately research who owned the car.
So she's not responsible for that, that's the towing company.
And you have no proof of the assault, of any injuries as a result
of this confrontation between the two of you.
No police reports, no video surveillance that you say exists,
and no medical reports because you didn't seek medical attention.
-Am I correct on all of those things? -[Caryn] Yes.
Perfect. Case is dismissed, we're done.
Thank you very much.
This court is adjourned.
Well, it was about the car when it got impounded the second time,
you know, I had to pay almost $1,400 to get it out,
and that was, like, almost as much
as I sold her the car for, which was 1,600, so...
I don't even know what the big situation about all of this is really to begin with
because I bought the car from her,
and I don't know what her problem is with me.
I don't know why she even approached me the way she approached me.
If she would have transferred the title like she was supposed to the first day
after I sold her the car, then none of this would be happening, you know?
She sold me the vehicle and she didn't provide me the smog certificate,
and it worked out how I expected it to.
I actually would look forward to trying the second part of that case
against the towing company because the most legitimate argument she had
is against the towing company on the second tow...
-Mm-hm. -...which really failed to do
a proper investigation of who owned the car.
I agree that she should sue the towing company for getting it wrong,
but I don't know if I would have done anything different in her shoes
just because when you receive something like that,
-it's kind of startling-- -It doesn't belong--
The car doesn't belong to me, I signed a release of liability...
-Yeah. -...it's not mine.
I think she's got a good case against the towing company.
Yeah. I agree.
[narrator] Have you been cheated?
Go to JudyJustice.tv
[theme music playing]